


All the Mess from the Past

by completelyhopeless



Series: Detective Grayson and Forensic Batgirl [3]
Category: DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe, Case Fic, F/M, Gen, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-28
Updated: 2014-12-28
Packaged: 2018-03-03 23:05:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2891447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/completelyhopeless/pseuds/completelyhopeless
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barbara meets Alfred. Dick avoids one part of his past as he prepares to confront another. Bruce reminds both Dick and Barbara of too much. Their friendship is tested when Barbara uncovers Dick's plan and all he kept from her about his own past with their suspect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All the Mess from the Past

**Author's Note:**

> I realized partway through this section that I'd done a lot more to build and explain Dick's past in this universe and not much to go into Barbara's. I did a bit to remedy that, but the case did tie into Dick's, which is a plot I have a weakness for (cop or agent or investigator having ties to the case in their past) so while it was easy to do with Dick, it wasn't as easy with Barbara.

* * *

“Admit it. You're enjoying this.”

Barbara's lips curved into a grin. He was right. She was. Watching Alfred fuss over Dick was almost hilarious. The older man seemed determined to examine every inch of the detective, who kept rolling his eyes and grumbling, acting more like a kid than anything.

“Master Richard, if you would take better care of yourself—”

“I'm fine, Alfie.”

“You are not,” the Englishman said, shaking his head as he reached for an antiseptic. Dick eyed it like he might run. Barbara fought laughter. He was a big baby when it came it to being treated. “And your habit of only coming to see me when you're injured is growing increasingly tiresome.”

“I do not come here only when I'm hurt,” Dick protested. “I come for the coffee, too.”

Barbara laughed. That much had to be true. He had been bringing her coffee almost every day. He must have been a lot closer to Alfred than he admitted. Or he was getting hurt a lot more than she knew. That thought made her frown. She knew the other cops were still hazing him, but she hadn't thought they'd go that far. Words were one thing, crap assignments another, but beating him?

“I am afraid I do not believe you,” Alfred told him, preparing an ACE bandage. “Though I am pleased to see you are finally making friends.”

Dick frowned. “I have friends.”

“Indeed? And when was the last time you heard from Master Jason?”

“I'm not telling you that. You'll tell Bruce, and you know how Jay feels about that,” Dick said, dodging the bandage Alfred tried to apply to his ribs. “I don't need that. Stop fussing. I only came because Babs wanted me to get checked out. You've seen me, I'm okay. We can stop now. I am not that little boy who showed up at your shelter when he was eight, not anymore. I can take care of myself.”

Barbara snorted. Alfred smiled at her. Dick rolled his eyes.

“You need to rest and allow yourself to heal properly,” Alfred said. “I would much rather not see you come to my door in such a state again.”

“I already warned him not to show up in my lab like this, either.”

“I approve.”

“Alfred, we just work together,” Dick warned. “Don't get any ideas.”

The older man shook his head. “Never, Master Richard. Now if you will permit me, I will get you something to eat before you go.”

Dick groaned, and Barbara smiled, sitting down next to him. She checked over the bandages, thinking there was a lot more to Alfred Pennyworth than a simple charity director. She would have assumed a doctor had done that examination if she didn't know better.

“There's a story here.”

He took a breath and let it out with a hiss. “Yeah. I... You know how Bruce ended up stuck with me, right?”

She nodded. “Your aunt.”

“Yeah. Thing of it is, they were on the outs when she got custody of me. I guess she left him over the IA thing, though the guy she picked after him was worse. I didn't know she was married, didn't know that they were separated, not when they gave me to her. Bruce wasn't in the picture, not until later. Her boyfriend didn't have much use for her, less for me. I ended up here, on Alfred's doorstep. He took me in, cleaned me up and took care of me. I've been in and out of here ever since. Bruce used to use him as a babysitter. Or I'd come myself, when Bruce was in the bottle again. Alfred sees all of us kids like his own. I think he wants to save me. He never managed it with Bruce, but he hasn't given up on me.”

She nodded. “There may be hope for you yet, Grayson.”

* * *

“You didn't need to take me home. Alfred examined me. I'm fine.”

“I'd hit you, but you're damaged enough already,” Babs told him, taking his keys from his pocket and opening the door for him. “And I wanted to talk about what you plan to do about the Suit.”

Dick had no intention of telling her anything about that. She didn't need to know, and there was still a part of him that wanted her to be wrong. Zucco couldn't have anything to do with this. Not that he'd been Zucco when Dick knew him, if he had been, Barbara would be acting a lot different. She wouldn't want to know what he planned to do about Zucco. She'd be making sure the case went to someone else.

“The Suit?”

Dick shoved his door shut. “What the hell are you doing here, Bruce? I know I never gave you a key. You want me to arrest you for breaking and entering?”

“Alfred called.”

“Traitor,” Dick muttered, shaking his head as he went past the couch. Bruce was sitting on the cushion with the biggest hole in it, so at least Babs wouldn't see that.

“He's worried about you.”

“Alfred worries about everyone,” Dick muttered as he yanked on the refrigerator door and pulled it open. It tried to stick, and his ribs protested, but he got it open and took out a beer. “Even the ones he shouldn't.”

“He knows you better than anyone, Dick. If he's worried, he's got reason to be.”

“Not enough to concern you,” Dick insisted. “Babs, you want one? I've only got one extra, so say yes because I'm not giving it to Bruce.”

Bruce gave her a look. Dick figured they both owed her apologies for dragging her into the middle of their mess. The beer was a start. He carried it to her while Bruce kept on staring. “How's Jim?”

“The usual. Hating retirement, butting into my cases, driving everyone crazy.”

“Good to hear. I haven't seen him in a while.”

Dick held back a snort and a comment about Bruce not seeing anyone but the bottle. He sat down in his ugly recliner—he had salvaged it after someone else trashed it—and leaned back, trying to ease the pressure on his ribs.

“Heard you became a forensic expert. Your father must be proud.”

She laughed. “Not really. I think he wanted me far away from the world of cops.”

“He doesn't know about you and Dick, then.”

“There's nothing to know.” Dick drank from his beer. He needed a reason to get both of them out of his apartment. If he was going after Zucco, he was going alone. “We work together. That's all. We're in the middle of a case, but Kowlinski sidetracked me, and that bust meant a visit to Alfred, but I'm fine. Babs, I'll see you in the morning. Bruce, you know your way out.”

* * *

“He's not usually like that,” Bruce said as he shut Dick's door behind them. “I seem to bring out the worst in him.”

Barbara laughed. That much was obvious, even in the short space of that awkward conversation. She remembered all the things her father used to tell her about Bruce. He'd been a good cop, one of her father's best detectives until his case got too personal. Bruce had gone too far trying to catch the guy, and it ended up costing him his career and his marriage. Despite all that, her father had never stopped considering him a friend. He still thought Bruce was one of the best detectives he'd ever known. It shouldn't be surprising, not when Bruce had been the one to find her mother's killer.

She grimaced. She didn't want to think about that.

“The case. The one you're working. What is it?”

“Bruce, my father respects you, and we both owe you, but I can't tell you that. You know that.”

He frowned. “Barbara, if Dick is involved, it concerns me.”

“Maybe,” she agreed, not willing to dive into the complicated and obviously screwed up relationship Dick had with his former guardian. Bruce had a problem with alcohol, and that was no secret. He had his demons. The question was how much damage those demons had done to Dick over the years. Bruce taught him to be a good cop, but that wasn't the only thing he'd taught him. “That doesn't mean you get details of an ongoing investigation.”

Bruce waited, expecting his stare to intimidate her. She wasn't a little girl anymore. She wouldn't give him details she couldn't tell anyone else. Not this time. This was Dick's case, not Bruce's. No, it was _her_ case. She needed Dick's help, but that didn't mean she wanted Bruce's interference.

“If you won't tell me, I'll find out for myself.”

“Bruce—”

“Dick doesn't know how to quit. Might have got that from me. Might just be who he is. He'll work himself into the ground. I've seen it before. If you won't stop it, I will.”

She frowned. She had Dick pegged as the sort that would end up chewed up and spit out from this business, but that didn't mean she agreed with Bruce trying to take his case from him. “He can handle himself. He's not going after anyone tonight. Even if he was, I'm not sure you have any right to stop him.”

“Dick treats every case like he's hunting the man who killed his parents. He can't forgive me or himself for never finding him. Kid has no business being a cop.”

Barbara disagreed with that. Dick was the kind of cop this town needed, one who gave a damn. “I'd admire your dedication to keeping your son from going down your path if you weren't so condescending. You can't protect him by refusing to let him make his own mistakes. He might fall, but what a father does is help him up after he does, not lock him away from the world. If you really want to help, tell me what makes him space out and throw things at people.”

Bruce's expression darkened. The muscle in his jaw twitched, and she heard his teeth grind against each other. “Maroni.”

“Friend of yours?”

“No.”

* * *

“Were you ever going to tell me?”

“Tell you what?” Dick asked, cracking open an eye to look at her. “Am I supposed to tell you how extremely turned on I am that you're fulfilling my secret fantasy by sneaking into my bedroom to have your wicked way with me? I didn't realize I was that obvious. I should get more inventive if you're going to figure them out so fast.”

“Don't get cute, Grayson. You know better than this.”

“Than what?”

“Maroni,” she ground out angrily. “When were you going to tell me? You _know_ Zucco. The man killed your parents. You lied to me, let me think it was some other case, something from your time with Bruce. That man killed your parents _and_ abducted you. And you didn't say a damn word.”

Dick let out a breath. If she was his captain or Bruce, she'd pull him from the case. Anyone would. He had too much past with this. “I couldn't let you stop me. If Bruce knew, he'd find some way to lock me inside while he went after Maroni himself.”

“Dick—”

“Babs, please,” he said, sitting up and reaching for her, ignoring the way his chest tightened with the movement. “I _can't_ let him go. Not again. I _won't._ I _have_ to stop him this time.” 

She pulled away from him. “Did you really think I wouldn't understand? That I wouldn't help you? I thought we agreed. We were working to stop this guy from killing more girls. I trusted you with everything I had on him. You didn't. You tried to hide it. And tomorrow you would have gone after him yourself.”

“I _had_ to. I won't let him do this to another kid.”

“This isn't just about you. Zucco may be your monster, the one from your nightmares, but you were never in this alone. I trusted you with this case, and I won't let you blow it by seeking revenge or acting out of anger. I promised you we'd get him and we will, but only if you're honest with me about what you know.”

Dick shook his head. “I'm not after revenge. I know I can't get that by going after Maroni himself. He's... He's a middle man. Runs protection rackets. Does acquisitions. Occasionally wet work, but that's rare. I don't even think he intended to kill my parents. That was just what happened when he was told to get them what they wanted.”

“Who are they?”

“I don't know.” Dick saw the look, but he shook his head. “That's not a lie. I don't know who he works for. We never found that out, couldn't dig deep enough. All I know is that they train kids into killers. The different methods, the random victims... They're at it again, training someone to kill, using prostitutes because they think no one cares and damn it, they're right. You and me, we are the only ones who cared. The only ones who looked past them being streetwalkers.”

She swallowed. “Are you saying that's what he did to you, turned you into—”

“I don't know. I don't remember much from the time when my parents died. I just know what they did to Jason.”


End file.
